The West Coast Logging Legacy

Dave

Dave

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Founder
Senior Staff
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Great to see this proud part of American and Canadian history, and part of my family heritage, preserved so well. We've come a long way from the days of clear cuts and timber baron pillage to our modern, sustainable forestry techniques.

[video=youtube;vFoqbU5XKL4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=vFoqbU5XKL4&feature=endscreen[/video]
 
Here is a similar piece capturing some of the Northeast's proud timber legacy

[video=youtube;Pu6JGtI3icE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu6JGtI3icE[/video]
 
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Theres an excellent book called "Tall trees and Tough men", by Robert Pike, about logging history in new England....worth a read for sure
 
Thanks for posting those up Dave...the Northeast one could have been old family movies. Logging and sawmills go way back on both sides of the family and I spent many an hour breathing sawdust and busting arse killing trees. I started tail-edging on the family's old hand set Frick 00 mill when I was 10; working beside my grandpa and my old man. By the time I was 16 there wasn't a job I couldn't do and do well. Became a lumber inspector at 17... man I miss that job. As time passed the business got big, we where one if the premier producers of PA export quality lumber in the area. But business changed, regulations and insurance got burdensone and we could see the writing on the wall. We sold the mill in 2005 and have never looked back. It was the best but hardest decision we made as a family. I miss the smell of fresh cut wood and sometimes on a hike I yearn to hear a big old oak crashing to the ground that I'm instead just walking past. Times have changed and no nonsense, hard bitten men aren't appreciated anymore.
 
I dredged up some more films that capture the essence of logging. Hard jobs, and hard men, are a part of our American culture and should be remembered.

[video=youtube;1jYtdLZC5xg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jYtdLZC5xg[/video]

[video=youtube;B3913CNlrOw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3913CNlrOw[/video]

[video=youtube;qpoWPbSzwpg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpoWPbSzwpg[/video]

[video=youtube;ml2vMLiaECU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml2vMLiaECU[/video]

[video=youtube;gi9Sb3BopWQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi9Sb3BopWQ[/video]
 
The Logging Show - Loggers Playday, Loggers Jamboree etc. This was the world that I grew up in and what drew me to work in the woods long ago. My first real job setting chokers on a high lead side paid $12.00... back when the minimum wage was $3.35... seemed like a no brainer to a young man with something to prove.

:lol

[video=youtube;5XDPCAo859o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XDPCAo859o[/video]
 
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...and remember the songs you used to sing, deep in the woods, you and your burly crew of hard men?

DAVE, young man with something to prove:
I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.
I sleep all night and I work all day.

HARD MEN:
He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

DAVE, young man with something to prove:
I cut down trees. I eat my lunch.
I go to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays I go shoppin'
And have buttered scones for tea.

HARD MEN:
He cuts down trees. He eats his lunch.
He goes to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays he goes shopping
And has buttered scones for tea.

He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

DAVE, young man with something to prove:
I cut down trees. I skip and jump.
I like to press wild flowers.
I put on women's clothing
And hang around in bars.

HARD MEN:
He cuts down trees. He skips and jumps.
He likes to press wild flowers.
He puts on women's clothing
And hangs around in bars?!

He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

DAVE, young man with something to prove:
I cut down trees. I wear high heels,
Suspendies, and a bra.
I wish I'd been a girlie,
Just like my dear Papa.
 
Redwood Saga - 1940's

[video=youtube;3MDgxNLDR64]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MDgxNLDR64#t=10[/video]
 
Here's some photos of our old hand-set mill. A Double-Ought Frick built in 1963, it was my dad's first big investment once out of the Army. He'd been loggin nearly all his life and wanted to steer the rudder of his own course. So about 1973 he started his own endeavor and would end up being one of the finest producers of Pennsylvania export quality hardwoods over the next 30 plus years. I was working on this mill since I was 10 years old along side my old man, my grandpa, my step brother Tom and a gaggle of one of a kind characters that ever ate sawdust. I believe this was in the spring of '85 and we were sawing timbers and construction lumber for the new modern mill that we were in the process of building.

My Step-brother Tom head-sawing. I think he was about 18 at the time of this photo.

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Looks like he's milling out a hemlock timber.

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Kevin (Alfie) Overmoyer offbearing and edging. He looks young but he was well into his thirties at this time. I don't think he ever had to shave once in his life.

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Kevin and George (Hillbilly) Anderson stacking cants. George was a true blue, born and raised West Virginia hillbilly...wild as hell, tougher than nails and had more BS than Carter had pills. That man taught me how to noodle snapping turtles and how not to poach deer. God, he was a hoot.

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Dimension lumber and sheeting boards.

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The Log Yard...if I had the value of logs that were in this yard back then in this current time I'd have one hell of a stack of money to go adventuring with.

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Nice pics Mark, looks like a great sawmill operation there :cool:
 
Every Summer that I am able to visit my relatives in Minnesota, my uncle and I go to the Almelund Threshing show. They demonstrate this steam powered saw mill. The blade is run by a long belt from the tractor. Saw mills were a big deal in the old days along the Saint Croix River. They would cut the pine trees up north and float them down to the mills at Stillwater and Marine on Saint Croix, MN. These mills are what built the Twin Cities. My Grandfather came from Denmark, and worked the mills in Stillwater.


[video=youtube;MyqoqfH2ZhU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MyqoqfH2ZhU[/video]


http://www.almelundthreshingco.org/
 
Spent most of my childhood growing up hiking, hunting, exploring the vast expanses of simpson lumber land. one of the benefits of working for them was getting to hunt on their land....my entire family was very involved in redwood logging from 3 generation back, my grandfather cut down old growth with MAN powered saws haha. Growing up I spent a lot of time playing in the Orick Saw Mill, riding (and sometimes driving) the Letourneau (see below). It is a massive machine that can unload an entire log truck load in one swoop. was fun to drive as a kid
logstackerwithlogs.jpg
 
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